CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt’s Suez Canal Authority has set new toll rates for oil tankers as part of a six-month experiment that came into effect on Thursday, it said on its website.

A cargo ship passes through the New Suez Canal in Ismailia, Egypt, January 17, 2016. REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany

Very large crude carriers (VLCCs) transitting the canal from the Arabian Gulf after discharging at the SUMED oil pipeline will be charged $155,000 if they are carrying more than 250,000 in deadweight tonnage.

VLCCs are to pay $230,000 on their return ballast trip.

The canal is one of Egypt’s main sources of foreign currency. Egypt has been struggling to revive its economy since a 2011 uprising scared away tourists and foreign investors, other main sources of hard currency.

President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi inaugurated an $8 billion expansion of the canal last year that aims to double daily traffic and increase annual revenue to more than $13 billion by 2023.